Dispensing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus (10) for dispensing toxic granular, pelletized, or particulate material to vermin such as rodents including a hollow pipe member (11) defining a reservoir for the material to be dispensed and arranged to be supported in a hole (15) in the ground and extend upwardly therefrom, an open topped container (12) supported coaxially on the pipe (11), and an aperture (16) in the wall of the pipe adjacent to the container (12) so that toxic material may pass therethrough into the container and a cover (13) supported coaxially on the pipe (11) and extending over the container (12) to shield the container (12) from adverse weather conditions such as rain.

This invention relates to dispensing apparatus and particularly toapparatus for dispensing particulate, granular or pelletised material,for example granular substances toxic to vermin such as rats.

BACKGROUND ART

Rats, mice and other vermin can cause considerable damage in standingcrops and therefore it is desirable to have an efficient means forexterminating such vermin. Whilst toxic substances in granular orpelletised form are well known, care must be taken in the manner inwhich such substances are used. For example, whilst the toxic substancescan be simply scattered on the ground they can present a hazard tochildren, domestic animals and birds and furthermore such substances ifused in the above manner are then exposed to weather conditions and maybe rendered ineffectual by rain. Whilst dispensers have been proposedfor the purpose of dispensing granular toxic and other substances, mostknown dispensers are not suitable for use in agricultural applicationssay in a field where crops are grown as they are not easily locatableand therefore are liable to be damaged by agricultural implements orcause damage to such implements. Furthermore, such known dispensers havenot proved to be particularly efficient or safe in use.

The present invention aims to overcome or at least alleviate some of theabove disadvantages by providing improved dispensing apparatusparticularly suited to the dispensing of granular particulate orpelletised material. The present invention is particularly applicable tothe dispensing of toxic substances for the extermination of rats orother vermin and may be used in any location where a safe and reliableoperation is desired such as in a field amongst crops. The dispenser ofthe present invention also is preferably constructed in such a manner asto be easily visible in use and to include a relatively large reserovirfor granular materials to thereby reduce the frequency of refilling.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

With the above and other objects in view, this invention resides broadlyin apparatus for dispensing granular, pelletised or particulate materialor the like, said apparatus including an elongated hollow memberdefining a reserovir for material to be dispensed, container meanssupported on said hollow member and communicating with the interiorthereof whereby material within said hollow member may pass into saidcontainer, cover means supported on said hollow member and at leastpartially shieldng said container and means associated with saidapparatus and extending on the operative lower side of said containermeans for engagement with the ground so as to support said apparatus inupstanding attitude.

Preferably the elongated hollow member comprises a pipe and saidcontainer means and cover means are supported co-axially on said pipe.Preferably also said container means includes an open trough portionextending around its periphery to catch any spill-over of material fromsaid container. Preferably also, said container communicates with theinterior of said hollow member through apertures in the wall thereof,said apertures being partly or fully closeable to restrict communicationbetween said container means and the interior of said hollow member.Suitably said container means is of dish like form and said cover meansis of inverted dish like form. Preferably also a water receptacle isassociated with the apparatus to attract vermin to the apparatus.Suitably said water receptacle may be formed integrally with the covermeans and defined by a peripheral lip thereon. Preferably waterreservoir means, suitably in the form of pipe members, are secured tosaid hollow member to supply water to the receptacle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be readily understood and put intopractical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the dispensing apparatus supported inan operative attitude;

FIG. 3 is a partly cut away sectional view of the apparatus illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates details of one form of feed closure mechanism for thedispensing apparatus.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, the dispensing apparatus 10 of the presentinvention is a first preferred form includes an elongated hollow member11, in this instance formed of PVC pipe having supported coaxiallyintermediate its ends, an open topped container or tray 12 for dispensedmaterial and a weather cover 13 which is supported coaxially above thetray 12 and adjacent thereto so that the container 12 is shielded fromexternal weather conditions such as rain. As shown in FIG. 2, both thecontainer 12 and cover 13 are spaced from the operative lower end 14 ofthe member 11 so that the lower end 14 may be located in a hole 15 inthe ground so that the apparatus may be supported stably in anupstanding attitude with the container 12 adjacent to the groundsurface. A plurality of apertures 16 are formed in the wall of thehollow member 11 adjacent the container 12 and the member 11 is closedoff adjacent to the apertures 16 as by a plug 17 so that the area abovethe plug 17 defines a reservoir for material to be dispensed into thecontainer 16. A removable cap 18 is provided at the upper end of themember 11 so that the interior of the member 11 may be filled with thematerial to be dispensed, this material being directed through theapertures 16 into the open container 12 so as to be accessible to verminsuch as rats. Preferably the container 12 is provided with a further rimportion 19 which may be defined by the rim of a further larger diametercontainer secured co-axially to the container 12 to define an annulartrough 20 to catch any spill over of material from the container 12 sothat possible poisoning of domestic or farmyard animals is reduced oreliminated. Alternatively the outer edge of the container 12 may beprovided with an integrally formed peripheral gutter portion for thispurpose.

As shown, the cover 13 which is of inverted basin like form, is locatedadjacent to the container 12 and extends thereover so as to shield thecontainer 12 say from rainwater which may otherwise cause deteriorationof the material therein. The cover 13 may be either fixed in position orbe slidable along the member 11 so that in the latter situation when theapparatus 10 is desired to be transported from one location to another,the cover 13 can be slid down over the container 12 to prevent escape ofmateiral therefrom. Alternatively, when the cover 13 is in a fixedattitude, an apertured sleeve 21 (see FIG. 4) may be provided co-axiallyabout the member 11 to surround the apertures 16 therein. The sleeve 21is in close sliding engagement with the member 11 so that the feedapertures 16 may be closed, fully open or only partly open by simplerotation of the apertured sleeve 21 to a desired position, say where theapertures therein are misaligned, aligned or only partly aligned withthe apertures 16. Thus where it is required to remove or transport theapparatus 10 in this instance, the apertures 16 may be simply closed offby rotation of the sleeve 21 to prevent spillage. Of course, many othersuitable closure arrangements will be apparent to persons skilled in theart.

So that vermin are attracted to the area of the dispensing apparatus 10either before or after eating the toxic substances dispensed therefrom,a water receptacle is mounted on the apparatus so that where the toxicsubstances cause say rats to have an increased thirst, they will remainin the area of the dispensing apparatus 10 rather than being attractedto a water supply for example within a house. Such a water receptaclemay be a separate receptacle of similar form to the feed container 12and mounted coaxially on the support member 11 above the cover 13.Alternatively the water receptacle may be formed integally with thecover 13. For this purpose, the cover 13 is preferably provided with araised rim 13' about its periphery so as to define a water receivingspace 22.

Water is preferably supplied to the space 22 by means of a pair ofreservoirs which in this instance comprise further elongated pipemembers 23 secured releasably to opposite sides of the hollow supportmember 1 by respective clips 24. Each pipe member 23 may be permanentlyclosed at its upper end by a cap 25 and provided with a removable cap 26at its lower end preferably screw engaged with the pipe member 23. Eachcap 26 is provided with an aperture 27 therein so that the level ofwater in the receptacle may be varied by altering the relative verticalpositioning of the aperture 27 by either screwing in or screwing out thecap 26. In this embodiment, two water reservoirs are provided forstability purposes, however, only one reserovir is necessary. When it isdesired to fill the pipe members 23 with water, they are simplyunclipped from the support member 12, the caps 27 at the lower endthereof removed and the pipe members 23 filled with water after whichthe caps 26 are re-engaged and screwed fully in to close off theapertures 27. The pipe members 23 may then be clipped onto the supportmember 11 and the caps 26 unscrewed to the required extent to fill thespace 22 with water. In use, the desired position for location of thedispensing apparatus is selected and a vertical hole dug in the ground,for example with a hand auger, with the hole being preferably of such adiameter as to closely receive the lower end 14 of the apparatus andbeing of such a depth that the container 12 will sit flat on the groundsurrounding the hole. The hollow support member 11 may be filled withthe material to be dispensed by simply removing the end cap 18 whilstthe water reservoirs 23 are filled in the above described manner.

The apparatus is set up such that there is just enough clearance underthe downwardly directed side wall of the cover to permit rats and miceto have access to the material in the container 12. The lower rim of thecover may be spaced relatively closely to the ground so that rats andmice can dig underneath the cover and the spacing between the container12 and cover 13 is such as to prevent small animals such as pets andbirds from gaining access to the container and bait therein but issufficient to allow access by rats and mice.

When the apparatus is set up as above, the sleeve or collar 21 isrotated so as to open the apertures 16 and permit the material to passinto the container 12. The caps 26 may also be unscrewed to the desiredextent so that water will pass into the receptacle 22. Where it isnecessary to change location of the apparatus, the water tubes 23 arepreferably unclipped from the member 11 and the sleeve or collar 21rotated to close off the apertures. The apparatus may then be removedfrom the ground and the water tipped out of the receptacle 22 and thetoxic material in the container tapped into a bucket or the like. Theapparatus can then be resisted in the above manner. Preferably thecomponents of the apparatus are formed of plastics material, for examplethe support pipe 11 and water reservoirs 23 may be formed ofconventional PVC pipe with the cover 13 and container 12 formed ofvacuum formed sheet plastics material. Plastics material will ensureagainst damage being caused in the event of an agricultural implementpassing over the apparatus whilst the upstanding nature of the apparatuswill enable it to be easily located in higher grass or crop areas ifleft in the field by mistake.

Of course the water reservoirs 23 may be secured to the hollow supportmember 11 in any suitable fashion and may if desired be fixed to thesupport member 11.

While the above has been given by way of illustrative example only, manymodifications and variations as would be apparent to persons skilled inthe art may be made thereto without departing from the broad scope andambit of the invention as herein set forth and defined in the followingclaims.

I claim:
 1. Apparatus for dispensing granular, pelletized, orparticulate material or the like, said apparatus including a firstelongated hollow member defining a reservoir for material to bedispensed, container means supported on said hollow member andcommunicating with the interior thereof whereby material within saidhollow member may pass into said container means, cover means supportedon said hollow member and at least partially shielding said containermeans, water receptacle means supported on said hollow member, at leastone further elongated member releasably mounted to said first hollowmember and defining a reservoir for water, outlet aperture means forsaid water at the operative lower end of said further elongated memberwhereby water may be supplied therethrough to said water receptaclemeans, and means associated with said apparatus and extending on theoperative lower side of said container means for engagement with theground so as to support said apparatus in an upstanding attitude. 2.Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said container means and covermeans are supported coaxially on said elongated hollow member andwherein said container is adapted to communicate with the interior ofsaid hollow member through at least one aperture in the wall thereof. 3.Apparatus according to claim 2, and including means associated with saidhollow member adjacent said aperture for selectively varying the extentof opening of said aperture.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid container means comprises a first open topped container and whereinsaid cover means is in the form of an inverted open topped container ofgreater diameter than the diameter of said first container.
 5. Apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein said first container includes trough meansextending around the periphery thereof and adapted to catch spillover ofmaterial from first container.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said outlet means are formed in a cap releasably engaged withthe said lower end of said further member.
 7. Apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said cover means includes an upstanding peripheral rimportion on the operative upper side thereof said rim portion definingsaid water receptacle.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidcontainer means and cover means are spaced upwardly from the operativelower end of said hollow member, said lower end comprising saidengagement means and being locatable in a hole in the ground to supportsaid apparatus in an upstanding attitude.
 9. Apparatus for dispensinggranular, pelletized, or particulate material or the like, saidapparatus including an elongated tubular member defining a reservoir formaterial to be dispensed, open-topped container means supportedcoaxially on said tubular member adjacent one end thereof andcommunicating with the interior of said tubular member through anaperture in the wall thereof whereby material within said tubular membermay pass into said container means, cover means of inverted open-toppedcontainer form supported coaxially on said tubular member, said covermeans including a peripheral side wall extending downwardly to aposition outwardly of but adjacent to said container means so that saidcover means substantially shields said container means from externalweather conditions, said peripheral side wall of said cover meansdefining with said container means a continuous peripheral access spaceto material with said container means, said cover means furtherincluding an upwardly extending peripheral rim portion defining on theupper side of said cover means a receptacle for water, and there beingprovided reservoir means for water mounted to said tubular member, andoutlet means on said reservoir means for supplying said water to saidreceptacle.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said tubularmember extends below said container means to define support means forsaid apparatus for location in a hole in the ground so as to supportsaid apparatus in an upstanding attitude.